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Officials from the Department of Administrative Services answered questions before the Joint Committee on Government Oversight.

DAS Director Mike Carroll began by admitting it was a mistake to allow confidentiality clauses to be included in settlement agreements. He said money for the settlements came from the operational budgets of the departments involved.

Carroll said he disagrees with the use of the term secret.

"These agreements were never secret, but as a matter of Iowa law public records are available to citizens of Iowa at any time," said Carroll.

He said he also disagrees with Wednesday's testimony from Carol Frank, an ex-DAS employee who said she was offered an extra $2,000 and then an extra $5,000 to sign the confidentially agreement.

"I don't believe that is a true statement," Carroll told the committee.

"We need to get to the truth. That is the role and the function of the government oversight committee," said Rep. Kevin Koester of Polk County.

Carroll said he did not take the layoffs lightly, saying it was a difficult and ultimately cost effective decision.

"The reorganization and operations improvement has resulted in an annual operational savings of $730,000," said Carroll.

Sen. Matt McCoy asked DAS COO Doug Woodley about the DAS employees laid off. He said they were more qualified than the people replacing them, and making less money than their replacements. McCoy said the people laid off were sent home and not allowed to work with the new people for a seamless transition.

Woodley said "We thought of the process very carefully."

"I have real trouble with that answer sir," said McCoy. "What occurred does not appear to be thoughtful. It appears to be thoughtless."

Committee Co-Chair Koester told KCCI the next step is to have another meeting and hear from Human Relations Department officials in the DAS.

BILL REQUIRES AUDITORS REVIEW:

The Iowa Senate has passed a Democratic-sponsored amendment to a state spending bill that would require the state auditor to look into confidential settlement agreements with fired state workers during Gov. Terry Branstad's current term.

The amendment authorizes $10,000 for the auditor to conduct the reviews.

Senate Republicans proposed to amend the measure to cover the administrations of Chet Culver and Tom Vilsack, both Democrats, claiming confidential settlements are nothing new. The proposal failed.

Democratic Senate Leader Mike Gronstal accused Republicans of politicizing the issue. He says the question of whether Branstad's administration fired state employees for political reasons needs to be answered.

Republican Sen. Jack Whitver says the issue has been going on for years.